You would think an author who writes a series of books subtitled “A Chicagoland Vampires Novel” would be a native Chicagoan, or at least a transplant. You might be wrong, though.

“I don’t live in Chicago, but I do live in the Midwest,” admits Chloe Neill, author of the recently released Friday Night Bites. “Chicago had left an impression on me. The first time I visited was when I was a campaign staffer in 1996, and it was such a magical and meaningful experience for me both personally  and professionally that I filed Chicago in the back of my mind as a place I might want to visit at some point in my writing.”

When Neill sat down to write her first novel in the series, Some Girls Bite, she was looking for the ideal big city in which to set her tale. New York and New Orleans have been the settings for numerous vampire tales. Her memories of Chicago came back to her and she realized after doing a bit of research that the Windy City had never been prominently featured in any vampire book.

“Chicago is a city of contrasts,” Neill says. “You have the beauty of buildings of glass and light downtown, and a lake stretching out in front of you as far as you can look, but then there is also this dangerous and depressing side courtesy of Capone and places like Cabrini-Green.

“Add in a rich history and the various cultural aspects and it is easy to see why vampires would want to live there.”

Neill says it is essential for her to accurately capture Chicago within the pages of her books.

“People who live in Chicago may have a love-hate relationship with the city, but I realize they want to see the city portrayed right,” she says. “I try to get back there while I’m working on the books, squeezing in as many things as I can so I can knock a few more Chicago places off of the list of things I know I want to write about.”

Neill’s stories fall into the emerging genre of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Think Danielle Steele but with fangs and no pulse, and where the things that go bump in the night occasionally also knock boots.

“My first few weeks as a vampire had been inordinately busy,” series protagonist Merit says in Friday Night Bites. “Like ‘The Young and the Restless,’ but with slightly dead people.”

Neill has made certain to set her vampires apart from other literary vampires and has crafted her own mythology around the supernaturals that populate her novels. Vampires, for instance, still drink blood to stay young, but they also eat.

“Like many of us, Merit has a vast love of food,” Neill says. “I suppose it’s partly because I enjoy writing about food.”

Another aspect to her vampire lore is that vampires swear their allegiances to houses. Chicago is home to three: Navarre, Grey and Cadogan. Merit resides in Cadogan House, based on the William W. Kimball House on South Prairie Avenue.

“Of course, I had to take some liberties,” she explains. “If Cadogan were real, it would occupy the entire block.”

Critics and fans alike have described Neill’s protagonist, college-student-turned-vampire Merit, as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Nancy Drew. It’s a description Neill cherishes.

“There is that Nancy Drew naivete and thirst for solving mysteries aspect to Merit, but she can also kick butt, so I love that description of her,” she says. “TV shows like ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ made it OK to like vampires. And Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight gave teens and women permission to read about vampires and not feel guilty about it.”  

Neill’s Friday Night Bites centers on deadly raves, where vampires are feeding off humans without authorization and thus threatening a fragile alliance between vampires and humans.    

Neill’s latest book also tackles the inner workings of both high society and the Chicago political system. Her fictional Chicago mayor is named Tate, but he has a stronghold on the political workings of the city not unlike the Daley Machine. Like any good politician, Neill’s Mayor Tate is a master of manipulating the human and supernatural communities for maximum political gain.

“The political workings of the city are well known by many who have never lived there,” she says.

Neill is working on the third installment of her series. Werewolves and other shape-shifters will take on a more prominent role in the next book as the shifters assemble in Chicago for a conference.

“I absolutely love all the churches and architecture in Ukrainian Village, and that neighborhood will take center stage in the third book,” she says.

And in another nod to the

city, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Friday Night Bites will benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Misha Davenport is a Sun-Times features reporter.

CHICAGO CONNECTIONS
The characters in author Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires series inhabit places all over Chicago, including Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier, Oak Street Beach, Diversey Harbor, University of Chicago, Buckingham Fountain, Lake Shore Drive and more. Here are some more specific Chicago connections in the fictional Friday Night Bites.
* Cadogan House in Hyde Park, one of the three vampire houses in Chicago, is modeled after the actual Kimball House on Prairie Avenue.
* Prior to moving into Cadogan House, series protagonist Merit shared an apartment in Wicker Park with her BFF, Mallory.
* Mallory is a witch in training who used to work at an ad agency on Michigan Avenue.
* Merit is a die-hard Cubs fan who owns a Ryne Sandberg bobblehead doll.
* Merit’s parents live in Oak Park.
* Mayor Tate’s ombudsman to the supernatural is Merit’s grandfather, a retired Chicago police officer.
* A high society party takes place at the fictional Breckenridge estate in Loring Park (modeled after suburban Barrington Hills).
Misha Davenport